Where 91% of My Business Comes From

Where 91% of My Business Comes From

You probably already know I use social media, email marketing, books and events to generate virtually all my business, but did you know that over 90% of those contacts, readers, and event attendees are referred to me by someone else?

That’s right, referral partners make up 91% of my business.

You probably get your best leads from referrals too, but do you actually have a referral reward system or an affiliate program that pays out commissions? You should.

I don’t want to manage funnels. I manage relationships.

Here are 7 ways I attract leads from influencers in the industry.

On a white board, write out 10-20 names of the people that you know who you want to work with. I want the daily visual reminder of the people I regularly need to communicate with. My team has meetings where we discuss our referral partners by name and how the relationship is going.

Pick up the phone to call these people and meet with them face to face. Short, effective calls and meetings with a purpose can be very powerful. Longer hang outs from time to time can be valuable too. (Texting is also a surprisingly effective way to stay on someones mind and be efficient with everyone’s time. Just avoid text letters.)

Have multiple ways to reward your relationships. Referral commissions are just one way to reward those people sending you business. I’m always thinking about ways to give, serve, and share with my strategic partners. Maybe it’s celebrating them online or introducing them to my contacts or providing a service at a discounted rate.

Make it easy for people to refer you! Give your referral partners what to say, what to show, and the best ways to refer you. Give them testimonial video links, website URL’s, media kits, and examples of your work. Teach them how to introduce you, what a good lead is for you, and what a bad lead is for you. Make it easy for them!

Take care of the referrals you get from your strategic referral partners. This can be tough at times, but you have to take care of these people. The worst thing that can happen to a referral relationship is to have to apologize for introducing someone to someone else.

Don’t let referral partners get random. High profit, low maintenance referral partnerships don’t happen on accident. They take work and over communication. I consciously think about and work on my referral partnerships. I make time to make the calls, ask the questions, serve the people, and reward the referrals! You must be consciously consistent when it comes to this instrumental area of your business.

Go deep! You have to know your referral partners goals, ambitions, and reasons for living. How do they define success? What makes them tick? What are the easy and hard wins that are worth it? Be thoughtful and follow up about business and life.

Yes I have funnels. Yes I market online. Yes I write books. Yes I put on events. Yes I go on TV. But it’s relationships that feed these funnels, fill my databases, share my materials, and invite people to meet me. Do you have enough referral partners? Do you have enough of the right kind of referral partners? Are you rewarding your referral partners enough? Is it a process that is predictable and on purpose? Maybe it’s time to review and refocus?